A Week of Birthdays plus New Adventures in the Great Lakes

May is always an exciting time, as Cherry's and my birthdays are four days apart on the 15th & 19th, respectively. Traditionally, we've taken a trip somewhere to celebrate. Two years ago we took a trip to New York City (for both business and pleasure). A year ago we drove to Pennsylvania where we toured Dutch Country, took in the beauty of Longwood Gardens, did some spontaneous baby clothes shopping at the OshKosh B'Gosh outlet and had a blast at the Rhubarb Festival (even though my over-engineered rhubarb derby car suffered an undercarriage failure that sent it careening off the track, and thus eliminating me from competition at the hands of an 8-year old).

This year, we took off for the shores of Lake Superior in Bayfield, WI, via Minneapolis for a long weekend with Cherry's sister Tennille and her husband and youngest son. It's perhaps the first couples getaway that I've ever been on and it was a lot of fun. We had the most gorgeous condo on the lakeshore within a block or two of all the great little shops in town that honestly made us all feel spoiled (let's call it "pampered"). Everyone else loved that I did all the cooking, and I enjoyed planning it all out and having people to cook for. A highlight was definitely the 3-hour boat tour through the Apostle Islands that shed light on the history and economy of the area as well as its immense natural beauty. I'd read about the sea caves while planning the trip and upon seeing the ones at Devil's Island I really wished that I was out in a kayak paddling around them, rather than just observing from the ship.

While we were out exploring town the day before I stumbled across a little bakery around the corner from our place and ordered a heavenly raspberry rhubarb pie for Cherry's birthday. It sure beat the heck out of a cake and from the first bite it was clear that the pie stood no chance of surviving to see the next day. The weekend was also punctuated with a great nature hike, scenic drives and several rounds of Ticket to Ride: Europe, which I had just ordered before the trip. (Thanks Shannon & Marc for introducing us to the game! We've won it some more converts.)

Having two babies in tow did up the stress level a little, with Zach running over to the gas fireplace and burning his palm literally minutes after we first walked in (a rough first night, but he was great the rest of the time) and Xavier getting sick and throwing up the night before we left and generally not being happy in the car for our drives too and from Minneapolis. I'm now convinced that traveling with babies from about 3-6 months of age is the ideal. Xavier was awesome during that period, and we got around a lot.

Speaking of which, it's time once again to update the "Where Xavier's Been" chart, seeing as this was we added several more states since our last big trips in January.

It was both Xavier's and my first time to Wisconsin, and he also added Minnesota to the list, along with weaker claims to Illinois and Missouri during airport layovers in Chicago & St. Louis. Having now bumped up the total to 13 states plus the District, Xavier's now been to a quarter of the states in his first 8 months. Not bad at all. Any guesses on where we'll hit next? I've still got four left to visit myself (the Dakotas, Alaska and Hawai'i) although I have doubts that those will be in the too-near future. Then again, before Tara graduates we may have to take advantage of our excuse to fly out to the middle of the Pacific for a little experience in paradise.

We'll add more pictures and details of the Bayfield trip in the near future, as well as the two "Month in Pictures" for which we're overdue! We had a scare coming home where we thought we lost the camera, but fortunately crisis was averted and the pictures are safe. Did I mention that we also saw the cherry and spoon sculpture in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden? Fun times!